Isaiah Dziko continues creating, making, and storytelling

By Lila Cohen, Social Media Editor

On April 2 Vashon High School’s very own Isaiah Dziko released a collection of eight original songs on his latest album “OCTOsun.” “OCTOsun” is Dziko’s third album since he began releasing music four years ago as a freshman in 2018.

Now a senior, Dziko has plans to pursue filmmaking in college. A creative at heart throughout both high school and his whole life, filmmaking is his passion. But it has been difficult for him to create films throughout high school, causing him to redirect much of his creative energy into music.

“The reason why I made an album is because I’m just one person. My main love is filmmaking, but I can’t [easily create film because I don’t have the resources]. I would have to animate… or I would have to get actors. It would just be [too difficult].”

Dziko had purchased film software that came bundled with music producing software, which inspired him to give music a shot, producing his first album in the winter of 2018. Since then his love for musical creation has led him to release three albums and eight singles.

“For me [music is] just another means of making something. At all times I’m making something. I’ll be playing video games, [and] I’m making something in the video game, or I’ll be cooking, not even just to eat the food but because I just love making food… I’ll make all these [music] videos, [and I’ll] share [them] for people to watch, [but I make them] because I like [to] make them. I just love creating; I’m creating every single day, whether it’s something big or doing something small. [For me] music is like the newest and the craziest way that I realized I can create.”

 

 

Part of what Dziko loves about music is how it serves as the perfect vehicle for his lyrics and stories. For him, his music is not about the singing, but rather the lyrics and sound production. Dziko does not even consider himself a singer, instead preferring the term “music producer.”

“I’m not really a singer. I needed to get my lyrics across, and I don’t have anybody else to do the vocals for me, [with the exception of a] few of my newer songs. On all of my earliest albums, I started singing, and I’m not a singer, so I kind of moved to more of a rap kind of vocal delivery. But I still don’t enjoy rapping or doing any of that,” he said. “I like more [of the] behind-the-scenes side of the music-making, so I’m doing all the production… In the future, you’ll probably hear less of me… I’m just a music producer because I make all my beats. Literally everything that you hear [I made], but I would say doing the vocals is probably my least favorite part.”

As lyrics are the main focal point of Dziko’s music, it would make sense that they would carry a lot of meaning. The themes of his lyrics vary from album to album and even song to song, with messages spanning from happy childhood memories to pessimistic perspectives to life lessons.

“[Some of] my music is based on comics that I wrote in sixth grade. [A] few of [the lyrics in my songs] have gone back to those, but I never imagined that I would make music [from them]… So music for me is almost like an audiobook. I’m able to tell stories without having to be dependent on other people.” Dziko said.

Along his musical journey, Dziko has learned many valuable lessons, including that success only comes from being 100 percent authentic.

“It’s kinda cheesy but at the start of my journey, I was trying to be somebody else. I was trying to be the ‘greatest rapper in the entire world.’ I was trying to make social commentary in my lyrics, all that stuff. And then I realized that’s not me. And that’s why [those albums] didn’t turn out well… When I channel my inner child, my inner young Isaiah, and I started making lyrics about my comics and I started making lyrics about childhood memories… I feel like that’s when I’m at home, and that’s when I enjoy making the songs more. And I think that’s the most important thing.”

With lessons learned comes knowledge to share. Dziko’s piece of advice for anyone considering embarking on their own musical journey is to just take the jump.

“Forget about what everyone else thinks [and] start doing things for yourself. [If] somebody listens to it [and] they like it, that’s great― [if] they don’t, that’s okay. [If] they don’t listen to it, that’s great… At least you can say, hey, I put it out and that’s the best [I can do].’”

Dziko’s latest album “OCTOsun” and all of his previous work can be found on Spotify. Follow along with his music journey on his Instagram @isaiahdziko